SAN MATEO, Calif. Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. are poised for a fourth session of gains Tuesday after the tech giant announced an expanded cloud-computing deal with Microsoft Corp. .

The two companies said as part of their partnership, Microsoft Azure is now a preferred public cloud platform for HP Enterprise customers while HP Enterprise will serve as a preferred partner for Microsoft’s hybrid cloud services. The other company, HP Inc., centers on PCs and printers. “Public cloud services, like those Azure provides, are an important aspect of a hybrid cloud strategy and Microsoft Azure blends perfectly with HPE solutions to deliver what our customers need most,” HPE CEO Meg Whitman said in a statement.